Unfortunately I'm starting the personal statement a little late due to some family emergencies. Could any of you guys give some tips on how they first started off with their personal statements? (Such as brainstorming and stuff like that). Thank you!Much love and appreciation.

You could go through the list of PS topics on the TLS main page and see if they inspire any topic ideas from your background

This is exactly what I did. It really helped me get ideas going. Personally, I like the very simplistic web where you have your main idea in the middle and branches off from it with supporting material/ideas. I started with this in the beginning as a rough format to get ideas flowing. Then I just tried to get ideas down on paper. I went through about 8-10 drafts before even getting close to a finished product. For me, my first drafts were more freewrites getting ideas flowing. After that I developed a brief outline to focus on the message I wanted to convey. I know for me the hardest part was actually determining what I really wanted to convey to the reader. Once you figure this out it is much easier to write. Just really focus on the message you want to send and if your writing is actually sending that same message. In the end, just polish, polish, polish. Hope this helps. Best of luck.